Currently, residential clients subscribed to electricity distribution are generally connected to the electric power distribution network and have a service line circuit breaker and a meter for electric power.
The meter is an element for measuring and recording consumption of electric power. It can be installed inside or outside the premises, at the boundary of the property or in a common place in a building. An electric power meter situated outside the premises is called “inaccessible” to the subscriber client or to all of the latter occupying a building. In France in 2007 this situation represents approximately 50% of the residential clientele.
The service line circuit breaker is the protection and safety element which is always situated in the premises, so as to be directly accessible to the subscriber clients. The opening of this circuit breaker is automatic in order protect against a fault, for example in the case of a short-circuit, but also when the power consumed exceeds the power contractually subscribed and also to switch off the power to the client wiring.
Managers of the electricity distribution network envisage offering meters for electric power that are inaccessible to the client, the purpose of which is to provide a simple and effective solution making it possible to reclose the cut-off member of the meter remotely, from the domestic wiring directly accessible to the subscriber clients in the premises of the latter.
The principle consisting of reclosing the cut-off member of the meter by acting on the service line circuit breaker of the client wiring has been described by Circutor, a company under Spanish law.
In particular, the company Circutor is the proprietor of Spanish Patent Application ES 2063699, the subject of which is to counter any possible fraud by the subscriber client involving his circuit breaker installed inside the premises.
The interior circuit breaker situated within the premises is accessible to the subscriber client and the latter therefore is able to fraudulently change the setting, in order to have a higher power than that contractually subscribed.
In order to guard against such an attempt, the solution described in the Circutor patent consists of installing a second circuit breaker outside the premises, inaccessible to the subscriber client, to which is added a device allowing remote reconnection to be carried out, as shown in FIG. 1a. 
The additional external circuit breaker is strictly identical to the interior circuit breaker and set to the same cut-off value corresponding to the contractually subscribed power. In the event that the subscriber client fraudulently sets the power of his interior circuit breaker to a value greater than the subscribed power, the opening of the external circuit breaker ensures the correct limitation of power to the contractual value. The reconnection circuit then allows the subscriber clients to easily reclose the external circuit breaker from their premises by actuating their interior circuit breaker.
Such a procedure is implemented from a reconnection circuit installed in the external circuit breaker of magneto-thermal type, identical to that which is situated within the premises. The reconnection circuit is constituted for each phase and for the neutral, of a resistor, a relay and a motor actuated by the relay as shown in FIG. 1b, for the phase for example.
Following the opening of the external circuit breaker by the subscriber client, this opening generates a current i′, denoted subscriber network reclosing current, the single-phase value of which is given by the relationship (1):
      i    ′    =            U      network                      2        ⁢        R            +              Z        premises            
in the above relationship Unetwork denotes the voltage of the network and Zpremises denotes the equivalent impedance of the wiring of the premises in question. The current intensity value i′ is given in the case where a reconnection circuit comprising the resistance R is present on the phase and on the neutral.
In this situation, when the subscriber client opens the interior circuit breaker, the intensity i′ becomes zero and the passage to zero of the above-mentioned intensity is detected by the relay, which actuates the motor. The latter mechanically recloses the external circuit breaker. The closing of the interior circuit breaker by the subscriber client allows the latter to switch on the power to the domestic wiring again.
Of course such a procedure can be implemented in an electric power meter. Such a solution was exhibited at the Metering Europe 2006 trade show by Circutor. In this situation the cut-off member only cuts off the phase, creating a current expressed, according to the relationship (2) in the form:
      i    ′    =            U      network              R      +              Z        premises            
Where Unetwork is the voltage of the network and Znetwork is the equivalent impedance of the premises in question.
The above-mentioned solution allows the reconnection of the power to the domestic wiring of the subscriber client, the meter of which is inaccessible. To this end, the service line circuit breaker, still positioned inside the premises, is therefore accessible to the client and plays an intermediary role.
The operation of the system as previously described and in particular of the reconnection circuit has the following drawbacks:                the operation of the above system is dependent upon the correct dimensioning of the resistor R of the reconnection circuit. In particular, the impedance of the domestic wiring of the premises varies from one subscriber client to another and over the course of time for one client; and,        the intensity i′ must be sufficiently high in order to be detected by the current-detection systems of the meter. However, the higher the above-mentioned intensity i′, the more the technical losses increase. It is therefore necessary both to identify the range of the impedance of the domestic wiring of the premises and the minimum acceptable value for this current i′. A current i′ greater than 10 milliamps would a priori appear to be necessary;        the technical losses are those generated between the time when the cut-off member opens and the time when the subscriber client opens his interior circuit breaker, a low current being generated by the meter towards the interior of the premises. The above-mentioned technical losses are estimated at approximately 2 W.        
Moreover, even in the case where the subscriber client is not authorized to reclose his cut-off member via his internal circuit breaker, when for example this subscriber client is a debtor having an outstanding account, the above-mentioned current is generated regardless, due to the electric architecture of the reconnection circuit.
Finally, whatever the reason, it is possible, in certain cases, that the cut-off member of a meter remains open while the circuit breaker is kept closed. In such a situation, the low current permanently generated causes technical losses of electric power, which can increase, the longer the cut-off continues.
By way of non-limitative example, on French territory, comprising 50% of clients whose meter is inaccessible and for approximately 1% of these clients whose contract is suspended over one year, there are approximately 170,000 meters permanently consuming 2 W, i.e. a loss of electric power of 3 GWh per year.